The required recovery period following surgery is often directly proportional to the size of the incision(s) made during surgery. Accordingly, laparoscopic surgery, which typically requires that only several small (1 cm.) incisions be made, is an increasingly utilized form of surgery because the recovery period is significantly reduced. Because the incisions made for laparoscopic surgery are very small, manipulation of the surgical instruments in the body through the incisions is a very difficult and precise task. For example, when performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a cholangiogram is usually performed. Conventional procedure, as noted in Reddick and Olsen, Manual of Laparoscopy for the General Surgeon, requires that, operating through a 1 cm. incision, a cut be made halfway through the cystic duct, and that a cholangiocatheter be inserted at an angle in the partial cut of the cystic duct. However, it is extremely difficult to avoid completely severing the cystic duct when making the partial cut. If the cystic duct is severed, it will retract because it is under tension, and it may be impossible to perform the cholangiogram. Moreover, it is also extremely difficult to insert the cholangiocatheter into the cystic duct at an angle. Numerous attempts at insertion may injure surrounding tissue or sever the cystic duct. There are also many other surgical procedures which contemplate that a cannula or catheter be inserted to a duct or vessel in a similar manner, and which are equally difficult and dangerous to perform. These problems are not solved by known surgical instruments, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,706,655, 4,653,476, 4,559,041, 4,411,653, 2,068,721, 4,245,624, 4,501,274, 4,889,118, 3,314,431, 1,303,135 and 4,870,951.